The New Plan of the New "Iskra," or Contemporary Girondists

1. Workers' organizations establish "popular agitational committees"??

2. "Popular agitational committees" are elected by all elements of the population discontented with the reform.

Quid est?{116} By workers? "Elected" into prison?

In the majority of cases, inevitably, the liberated will be elected—not through our weakness, not thanks to the strength of the liberated, but thanks to the strength of the tsarist government.

3. These committees press upon the voters.

[How? Obviously, by leaflets, demonstrations, and so forth. This is good. But will "popular agitational committees" conduct this work better than the committees of the RSDLP?]

For what purpose do they press?

4) – for the election of "more decisive democrats."

So be it! For example, in Moscow – instead of the designated Golitsyn, Muromtsev, Shchepkin, and Guchkov – Martov and Plekhanov?? Milyukov?? Struve??

– even more decisive? Gardenia?? He is more decisive.

5) "Committees" create an "illegal representation"…

So then, the committees ("popular agitational") are not themselves the "illegal representation," but additionally "create" it! How??

Why will "illegal representation" be broader than present illegal organizations??

6) Further.

α) Workers' organizations bring into being popular agitational committees.

β) Popular agitational committees create illegal representation.

γ) Illegal representation at a given moment appears as a temporary organ of the people's will!.. What does this mean? A "provisional government"??

["issuing from a victorious uprising"?]

not as an organ of uprising???

7) …one way or another… the movement will create an "organization of revolutionary self-government"… which will shatter the "framework of tsarist legality."

Shatter it with what? agitation??

or uprising??

With arms or without arms?

Without a revolutionary army?

8) "Foundation of the future triumph of the revolution"…

When [it] "shatters," then it will lay the foundation of the future triumph!.. But is the very shattering not itself the triumph? Is "revolutionary self-government" not the triumph?? Why is this triumph, after the organization of revolutionary self-government, still in the future? What will this triumph consist of??

Written between 11 and 23 August (24 August and 5 September) 1905.

First published in 1926 in Lenin Miscellany V

Published from the manuscript